The Discovery of Winged Unicorns
The library was stuffy and slightly dusty from not being used while Twilight was visiting Princess Celestia. Spike was wandering here and there cleaning as he went, while Twilight was sifting through some of the more ancient tomes. When she visited Canterlot, she had asked Celestia how alicorns came to be. The regal mare had dodged the question and told Twilight not to bring it up again. The new princess did as she was told and the subject didn’t come up again until Luna pulled her aside. The moon princess explained that alicorns are a touchy subject with her sister but if Twilight wanted to know more there is a book about it in the Ponyville library.
Twilight wasn’t told the title or author but she was sure that she would know when she saw it. She had gone through the pile of books twice before she decided to give up and started to put them back. Taking a step forward her hoof caught a book and sent it spinning into the bookshelf, knocking off the base panel. Swearing silently, she moved to look at the damage and saw something. In the dusty darkness beneath the bookcase was a square shape. Pulling the object out of the hole with her magic, she saw that it was a book. It looked ages older than the books she had been going through. Despite this the tome was in pristine condition, the spine was tight with very little marring on the cover. The pages were only slightly yellowed with no creases on of them. The title read, “The Discovery of Winged Unicorns.” There was no author identified anywhere that Twilight could see.
Twilight fixed the broken panel and brought the book to her desk for easier reading. As soon as she started reading, she knew it wasn’t just a book. It was lab notes, a bunch of them, all gathered and compiled into a sort of memoir. Twilight started to doubt that there were multiple copies of what she was looking at. She made herself comfortable and continued to read intently.
We discovered the new race of pony six years ago in a small village outside of Bridleton. The two foals were born to a unicorn couple that had recently been married. The local authorities had been concerned about the two being born with both a horn and wings so they decided to contact us. The winged unicorns (henceforth known as “alicorns”) were taken into custody and brought to our labs. The parents seemed glad to be rid of them, probably because of the some grudge against pegasi. I was placed in charge of them as their caretaker, but I was also to be their “doctor” running various experiments on them.
When I saw the two, here known as “C.” and “L.”, my breath was taken away and I had to sit. They were beautiful, their manes and tails flowed and rippled as if a gentle breeze was always running through them. C. had a pure white coat that shone brilliantly in the sun, and her mane was a dull rainbow that could easily be lost in if you looked at it for too long. L.’s coat was a glossy dark purple that sparkled in the moonlight. Her mane was a deep shade of blue with white specks that sparkled and shifted through it; it was like looking into eternity.
I took a liking to L. and did not experiment on her as harshly as I did C. We had to get our first couple of blood and tissue samples quickly because they were aging very quickly, although L. did not age as fast as C., which made her look and act younger. Their aging slowed and then seemed to stop as they reached what would normally be a young adult age; at this point, they were 2 months old. The samples we took proved that there was no mutation and that C. and L. were part of a new race. Their horns grew to be longer than a normal unicorn’s and their bodies looked as though they were going to be larger than normal when they were fully-grown.
We started to teach the two alicorns magic at a slower than normal rate to see if they could use it. Oh, they could all right; they learned quickly and were soon starting to invent their own spells that dumbfounded any unicorn that was watching. At some point L. actually managed to create life in the form of a doll-sized unicorn. It did not react to any outside stimulus at all, as if it was in its own little world. A few days later C. was playing with her magic and focused on the little pony until it became bathed in a blinding light. When the light disappeared, there was the small unicorn except now it bore wings as well. Their power was becoming god-like and it attracted the attention of Lord Discord. He kept a close eye on our research and told us we needed to try to reproduce what C. had done.
We took samples from the small alicorn then destroyed it. I asked L. if C. knew how to make a unicorn as she did. She smiled and told me she never taught C. the spell. I told her she did well, she beamed at that, and that she was not allowed to make anymore. She looked disappointed but promised me she wouldn’t use the spell again. We found that using magic to try to turn a pony into an alicorn did not work for two reasons: first, no pony other than C. knew the spell and second, because no one unicorn could produce that amount of magic. We had tried to ask C. to perform her spell again and when she repeatedly refused, we had to resort to drastic measures. When she reluctantly agreed, we had to take her to the infirmary for a few weeks of recuperation.
While the geneticists were mapping the genomes of C. and L. to find what made them alicorns, myself and some of the other scientists asked around for a test subject for C.’s spell. Eventually one of our staff medical assistants, Rose Petal, came to us as a volunteer for the test. She explained to us that other than her job she had nothing else going for her so if something went wrong she wouldn’t regret her decision. We did a psychological evaluation on her to make sure she would not do anything rash if things did not go as planned. She scored highly, so we set up the date to coincide with C.’s release from the medical ward. I reported to Lord Discord on the upcoming experiment and he insisted on being present to witness the results.
Lord Discord had always had his quirky ways, but we never expected him to want to see something that, for all we knew, could very well end in a pony’s death. I remember once when I went to report to him after C. and L.’s birth he was floating above his throne, which was spinning in place, as he snacked on the thorns of a rose bush. He was laughing giddily as he made strange symbols appear on his guards flanks and while they were distracted, he turned their helmets into chickens. It was quite amusing to watch honestly, but when he noticed me, everything reverted to the way it was. He stared at me for a short while before muttering to himself, loudly enough for me to hear, “The Lunar Seal huh, I better keep my eye on this one.” I did not know what he meant by that so I shrugged it off and gave him my initial report before he dismissed me.
The time came for the first experiment, as C. was released from her medical recovery. We took her to an empty room and locked her in until Lord Discord arrived. The room was made to be blast- and fire-proof for experiments that may have adverse effects on the environment. Most of the staff was present, watching through the one-way mirror that took up part of the wall. Rose Petal was ushered into the room and the door was closed and secured behind her. I instructed C. to cast her spell on Rose Petal through the intercom or I would restrict her visiting time with L. C. was looking scared as she aimed her horn at the pony on the other side of the room and cast her spell. Like with the small artificial pony, Rose Petal was surrounded with a blinding white light. This time was different though, for the medical assistant could be heard crying out in what we assumed was pain.
The light faded and Rose Petal could be seen laying on the ground in a stupor. She had a pair of wings that drooped lazily across the floor. All of us who were watching cheered at our success except for Lord Discord, who just stared at C. with a disdainful look on his face. Security guards entered and pulled C. out forcefully and took her to her room so she could rest, as she was visibly exhausted. Everypony started to leave as medical staff came to take Rose Petal into a magic-proofed room for physical and mental evaluation. The doctors told me that she would be held for 36 hours to be sure that she is stable enough to return to work under strict supervision. During this time, Lord Discord had left us without a word and returned to his castle.
I visited the geneticists to see if they had discovered what had been classified as the “Alicorn Gene.” When I entered the door, they had an excited look on their faces as they pulled all their notes together and brought me a vial. The doctor who carried the vial was bouncing instead of walking, and I later learned that his name was Cherry Pie and that he was a very excitable pony. Dr. Pie explained to me that they had found the “Alicorn Gene” and managed to replicate it into the form of an inoculation. When injected, it is supposed to alter the recipient by splicing itself into their DNA. The other doctors told me that they had not tested the gene but knew it would work because of how they built it. I told them to make more before taking the vial and tucking it into my saddlebag.
I reported the discovery to Lord Discord who instructed me to start experimenting immediately with the ponies he would send to my labs. I was a little uneasy at having to start with pony testing without testing the gene on other creatures first. My visit ended abruptly when Lord Discord teleported me back to the facility and I realized he was being literal when he said immediately. I stood in the empty room where we did the experiment with Rose Petal. Some of my medical staff was there as well looking around confused and asked me what was going on. I was about to start explaining when there was a muffled pop as a bound and gagged earth pony stallion appeared in the room with us. He had a note stuck to his side that said, “Here is test subject number one, I will be sending in twelve more at a later time.”
I was shocked, I knew Lord Discord was strange in his own way but this was outright crazy. We had no idea what this pony’s background was, but we were being ordered to experiment on him regardless of that. I explained to the medical staff what Lord Discord wanted of us and they nodded grimly, bringing me a needle to inject the gene into Subject #1. I removed the vial and filled the needle with the gene and as Subject #1 watched this, his eyes grew large and started to fill with tears. I pushed the plunger to evacuate the air in the needle before I approached Subject #1. He struggled against his bindings and almost fell over before the doctors stabilized him and held him in place. I shoved the needle into the muscle of his shoulder and injected him with the gene. What happened next was horrific. The stallion started to convulse violently, throwing the doctors off him. He was screaming through his gag and blood foamed around it. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as bare bones erupted from his shoulders. The stallion died shortly after the wings started to form and I carted him to the morgue.
I oversaw the autopsy, taking notes for Subject #1’s file to report to Lord Discord. The doctor that was performing the autopsy found that all of the stallion’s internal organs had dissolved into a green mush. His skeletal and muscular structure had remained intact, with the exception of the wing bones that stuck out of his sides. When the autopsy was finished and I had all the notes compiled into a file, we incinerated the body. I placed the file in my office before going to visit L. for a little bit. She smiled happily and rushed to meet me at the door, giving me a big hug. I hugged her back and asked how she had been since I had not seen her for a few days now. L. talked about the stuff she had been doing as I tucked her into bed and kissed her on her forehead. I read her a story and when she fell asleep, I headed off to bed as well.
I woke suddenly as I was teleported into the room where we had been doing our experiments. I held back nausea, being an earth pony I found it hard to get used to teleporting, and looked around. A new medical staff had also been forced into the room while they were asleep and they eyed me nervously. Against the back wall were eleven bound ponies of various races and genders. A table popped into existence and less than a second later a newborn unicorn appeared on the tabletop along with two more vials of the gene and a note. This time the note read, “Here are the final twelve test subjects, I want them all destroyed after your experiments are finished.” I was shocked; Lord Discord must have gone completely insane if he expects me to not only experiment on a newborn but to destroy all of the test subjects afterwards, even if the experiment was a success. I shook off my surprise and decided to start with the newborn, who instead of a subject number, I designated Ca.
The other subjects looked at me with horror as I brought the first needle to Ca.’s shoulder and injected her with the gene. She started to cry from the pain of the shot before she passed out as her body started to change. Wings grew from her side, folding themselves neatly as if they were there all along and her horn grew just a little bit longer. There were no other changes that we could see and Ca. didn’t start to convulse like Subject #1 had. I told one of the nurses to take the newborn away and put her into an observation room. The nurse did as she was told while I prepared another needle.
Subject #2 was an adult earth pony mare who was crying as I approached her. I repeated the process of injecting her with the gene and she convulsed, eventually dying in the same manner as Subject #1. Her body was carted off to the morgue as I came to Subject #3, a teen pegasus stallion. His reaction to the gene was not as violent as the previous subjects had; I found out later that it was because of a horn growing into his brain instead of out his head. Subject #4 a pegasus mare did not die from the gene when it was introduced into her body. A horn grew normally from her head and she told me that she felt funny before shooting off random spells around the room. We hypothesized that this was because she did not grow up with the magic therefore; she had no control over it. I called a security guard in to knock her out and dispose of her as per the protocol.
I was starting to get used to what ultimately came to putting these ponies to death and I was somewhat glad because I would not have to do it anymore after the last subjects had been given the gene. I finished with the experiments with dismal results; only three subjects had survived the process of becoming an alicorn through unnatural means. Ca. was the first, Subject #4 being the second and destroyed shortly after. The last one to survive was Subject #11, a twenty-something unicorn mare who had studied magic her entire life. We think that she survived because she was so adept at magic. With the process of becoming an alicorn, a unicorn’s natural magical ability is increased ten-fold and because of #11 natural ability, she was able to handle the increase in magic. I would have liked to study #11 more but because of my orders I was not able to and had to have her destroyed.
When I found out that Ca. had survived with no adverse effects, I took the newborn to L. and asked her for a favor. I told L. that I needed her to cast a spell that would put Ca. into stasis for an indeterminate amount of time. L. was confused naturally, but when I explained to her what it meant she caught on and asked my why. I felt horrible about what I had done so I decided to tell her the truth about what I had done and why. She started to cry and yelled at me for what seemed like an hour before she calmed down and I could tell her that I had a plan to get her and C. out of the facility so they could live normal lives. First, she needed to put Ca. into stasis and hide her so Lord Discord could not find the newborn. Second, I would let the facility staff go home early so I could leave the doors unlocked before I went to give Lord Discord my report. This would give the three alicorns the chance to escape before I came back and burned the place down.
L. seemed overwhelmed by all of what I had told her but I reassured her that it would all be fine as long as they kept hidden after they escape and not let Ca. out of stasis until they thought she was safe. L. understood and cast a spell over the newborn placing her into a deep sleep that she would not wake up from and would not age while she was under it. I smiled at her after she finished and gave her a hug. I told her to get some sleep because tomorrow was going to be a busy day. Before I left the room L. called to me and asked what the symbol on my flanks meant. I was surprised at that because as far as I knew there was nothing on my flanks. I turned to look and saw a symbol similar to what Lord Discord’s guards had when he was messing with them. Mine was a crescent moon on the bottom, with a star centered in the empty space and two outstretched wings coming off the edges of the moon. I told L. that I did not know what it was but it was there because of Lord Discord. She frowned slightly then grinned saying that it looked cute on me so it was my cutie mark. I chuckled a little bit then told her to go to bed as turned to leave and prepare for the next day.
My plan had gone off without a hitch and the only thing I had left to do was report to Lord Discord on the results of the previous night’s experiments. I arrived at the castle and his guards escorted me into the throne room, which was in complete disarray. I bowed to the godly draconequus as he laughed madly at the chaos he was causing in the castle. When he saw me, he asked me what I had found out from my experiments and so I told him what I thought about the alicorn race.
No stallion of any race can become an alicorn because the gene destroys their bodies. It is not known why it does this but our theory is that because of the genetic difference they have compared to mares. Earth pony mares are affected in the same way as stallions are when introduced to the gene. We think it is because they are born with no inherent magical ability so when the gene creates it their body rejects the magic and kills itself in the process. Pegasus mares can become alicorns but have no control over the magic they gain because they do not have any training with it. Unicorn mares fair the same under normal circumstances but instead of not being trained, they cannot handle the amount of magic that is added to their own. Only powerful and well-learned unicorns can become an alicorn with no problems at all when they are adults other than having to learn how to fly. Newborn unicorns on the other hand can change with no adverse effects because their bodies are still developing.
Lord Discord was chuckling again and congratulated me on my discoveries. He told me that now that my work was done, I was to get rid of C. and L. for they no longer have a purpose in this world. I protested strongly but agreed nonetheless so I would not anger him and ruin my chances of getting C. and L. out alive. He laughed again and teleported me out of his castle and back into the facility. That was the last time I ever saw Lord Discord, a few months later C. and L. rose up against him and turned him into stone. I burned down the facility after I made sure that the three alicorns were gone. This how I came to write this book, I went into exile never to see any of my friends or family again. I want to make sure that no pony makes the same mistakes we did but with how powerful C. and L. became I doubt they could. So, to any pony who may come across this book and read it to the end, please forgive me for the crimes I have committed and apologize to C. and L. for me.
I miss you so much, my daughters.
Twilight read the last few lines repeatedly, shocked that the stallion who wrote this book truly felt regret for the actions he made against Celestia and Luna. She cried for a few minutes and said a small prayer for the unknown author. Twilight pulled herself together and put on her saddlebag tucking the book into it as it settled onto her back. She called to Spike and told him that she would be back soon and that he was in charge of the library while she was gone. The small dragon nodded and continued what he was doing, as Twilight cast her teleportation spell and arrived in Canterlot. She walked into the throne room and asked if she could speak to both of the princesses alone. Celestia nodded and ordered the guards away before asking Twilight what was wrong.
The new princess pulled out the book and explained what it was to both of them. Celestia seemed angry at first that such a book existed but when Twilight relayed the message at the end, the sun princess calmed down and started to cry. Luna had been crying as Twilight summarized the book and explained that the author, whose name she never knew, was like a father to her. It was because of him that they were able to escape with the newborn Princess Cadence and eventually defeat Discord. Twilight asked why Cadence had aged at a slower rate than they did after they were born and why she was able to see her as a teen. Princess Celestia told her that because Cadence was not a natural born alicorn but was turned at a very young age she still had the aging effects that they did just at a slower rate. The reason why Twilight was able to see Cadence as a teen was that Celestia was unable to break Luna’s stasis spell until shortly before Twilight had gone into magic kindergarten.
Twilight took it all in and thought for a little while. Eventually she spoke up with her final words before going home to Ponyville, “He sounded like an amazing stallion and I wish I could have met him under better circumstances than you had. I’m sorry you didn’t get to see him again but I hope that this book will keep your memory of him alive.” Twilight handed the book to Luna and bowed deeply before going home.